Category - Newsletters

A big thanks to Senators Bettye Davis and Hollis French! This year we teamed up with them on our foster care and Medicare legislation. We filed our version on the House side, and they worked hard with us agreeing to file parallel pieces of legislation on the Senate side. Senator Davis has been a leader on children’s issues for a long time, and Senator French has emerged as a leader on getting more Alaskans health coverage. Oh. And thanks to my summer aide, and Facing Foster Care in Alaska Coordinator Amanda Metivier, for writing much of the foster care legislation; and to my aide Rose Foley for working hand in hand with me on this.

With a short, 90-day session, the Legislature is stumbling through the last few days with haste. It is at such a pace, that this email will be out-dated by the time you finish reading my notes. I’ll try to keep this message brief, but will also update you as things progress through these final days of session.

Turning local garbage into energy could be common sense solution for Alaska communities
JUNEAU – Today, the House Special Committee on Energy heard a resolution urging support for turning garbage into energy. According to the resolution (HCR 10), waste-to-energy technologies using municipal solid waste have been successfully used around the world and in at least 24 states in the United States to produce energy and reduce landfills.

Holmes-Olson bill protects Alaskans from corporate collusion and price fixing
JUNEAU – Today, the Alaska House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to better protect Alaskans from corporate antitrust violations such as collusion and price fixing. The legislation (HB 87) would raise the penalties for criminal violations and create a civil penalty for individuals and corporations engaging in antitrust violations.

As we enter the last days of session, the pace is definitely picking up and floor sessions are getting longer. Last night at about 9:00 p.m., the House voted to pass the governor's proposed oil and gas tax reduction over to the Senate. Also this week, legislation I sponsored to create a Public Gardens Day moved over to the Senate.

Welfare for the Fabulously Wealthy
A heady brew of fear, philosophy and political pressure carried Gov. Sean Parnell’s oil tax giveaway bill, HB 110, to a narrow 22-16 victory in the state House on Thursday.
No one was less surprised than me.